As Set as Glass
by Ami-Dani
Summary: Squall's has less world ending cases. Now free to be Seed under Cid and Edea. But when Esthar is attacked by an unknown force, an assured future is shattered easily by Ellones disappearance and Rinoa's growing unease. Squall can find comfort in the only words of warning given to him. "Even if you can't see what's ahead of you look beside you, they'll be someone there, promise."
1. A normal life fated to fall

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 8 or Final Fantasy in general, Square Enix owns all rights. Unseen

Chapter 1: A normal life fated to fall.

* * *

Screams and arm fire echoed across blood soaked grounds and heavy rain would soon wash away any remaining on the battle field. One after another soldiers fell. Magic was cast at every turn, it was impossible for the Esthar soldiers to even get near their target. "What kind of magic is this!?" One soldier yelled, watching another comrade flung over a street to a horde of monsters. "No! Help, I'm too underpaid for this!" The Esthar soldier cried thinking over his life as an overworked and underpaid one; a poor choice in career indeed. "Get up, you wimp, those are weak monsters!" another comrade shouted from his position against another wave of monsters. The crying Esthar soldier stopped his reminiscing and turned to the low-leveled monsters, who at the moment had just barley realized he was even there. "Oh. Ha ha, yeah… Thanks..."

"Focus, men, we're up against something powerful here! Don't get distracted, and don't let these monsters reach the civilians!" the commander bellowed.

His team nodded, returning to their fights. "Sir, yes, sir!"

The cause of the battle stood idly by in the middle of the fallen soldiers, waiting for any others to come near. One security guard positioned himself with a rifle, not honestly expecting to be of much help, or so his salary told him, but was shocked at his luck. "Hey, I got a shot!" _Hello, raise! _"I'm taking it, boss!" He positioned himself to fire, but stopped in his tracks. _What the… that kind of looks familiar… _A loud screeching noise, like a bad radio signal rang in his ears, distracted him, though.

"What!? Don't be reckless. This _thing_ isn't normal!" the "Boss" – really Commander Deven – yelled, or more like screeched, through his intercom. _And let you get the promotion, ha! Keep dreaming, buddy! _"Hey, you there!? You heard me, don't shoot and give away your position!" The commander only heard a faint voice of acknowledgement.

The enemy stopped in its tracks from killing a post guard, whispering something only the poor man could hear. "Hiie, please don't kill me!" Raising his trembling arms in defense, he opened one eye only to see his would-be killer turn swiftly, as if realizing something and running in the direction of the Presidential Palace. Leaving the post guard to fall to the ground in relief.

"Hey, get back here!" Commander Deven shouted, running across the Cross Paths of Ethar. "Group C, go to the left and surround it!" But heavy rain washed over the streets and dense fog covered the sight of the Esthar soldiers who were currently shooting blindly at the target, they could barely see in front of them. "Um… Sir! Which way's left?"

"…"

"…"

"Just follow to the sound of gun fire!"

"Sir!"

* * *

"President Laguna! There appears to be a problem with catching the intruder, sir!" An Esthar soldier saluted to Laguna who was busy looking out the window of his office trying to make out anything in the dense fog, but failing. "Um, sir?"

"Ma-an, would you look at that! Now that's what I call rare!" Laguna turned from the window to his right-hand men and longtime friends. "Kiros, Ward, engrave this scene in your heads cuz chances are we won't be seeing this in a while." Nodding as if self-confirming himself Laguna turned back to the window.

"Laguna, would you stop acting like a child and get serious. Your men aren't having such a great time." Kiros, the one who was answering the Esthar soldier's report said, The childish president sighed in frustration and so Kiros turned to Ward. "Why did they make Laguna their leader again?" But Ward just shrugged.

"Very well sir I will tell the civilians to evacuate to the air center!" Kiros nodded. "That's right; I want your team to focus on protecting the people from harm and keeping the air center empty of any monsters."

"Sir! You make a better leader sir!" And the Esthar soldier ran out the door.

Laguna laughed wholeheartedly at the "joke" and returned to looking out the window. "Mental note, gotta tell my men to be a bit less casual around me. I mean, sure the joke was funny and all, but serious stuff is going on around here. We need to stay focused here."

Kiros crossed his arms amused at his friends' antics. "No, Laguna, I think he was being serious. You're the one not taking any of this situation seriously."

Laguna turned from his window, offended. "Hey! I can be serious, too, you know! I just have faith in my men! Sheesh! You'd think you'd believe more in me by now, it's been like, what? Eighteen years and Esthar's still kicking!" he placed his hand on the window as if to show them, but pulled back quickly, mumbling, "_Well, except now, of course..."_

Ward crossed his arms and stared long and hard at Laguna. Laguna moved back, shocked. "What, you don't believe me, Ward!?" Kiros sighed, nodding. "He's right, Laguna. Without us, Esthar would be in ruins by now."

"Oh, harsh..."

The sudden banging of Laguna's office doors slamming open and a wounded Esthar solider staggering in, distracted Laguna from his run-around fight. The man looked just about ready to collapse, a large gash on the side of his abdomen. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on there, you don't look good at all. You should sit down and let me get a medic here, pronto." Laguna ran to the staggering soldier, whose legs couldn't support him anymore. "Sir I… I….She..."

He caught the man before he fell to the ground. "Hey, stay with me, with happened!?"

"P…President…Elleone...is g…gone…I'm…sorry…"

"H…Hey! Come on, hang in there!" Laguna shook the solider lightly, but it was too late, the pulse had faded as the man slumped over, now lifeless.

There was silence for a moment but they could hear the sound of gunfire not far off. "Damn!" _I didn't think it was this bad…_ He placed the solider on the floor and shocked both Kiros and Ward with a rare serious expression. "I'm going."

"What? Going? But you're the president!" Kiros ran forward to stop Laguna. "You can't just go out to the line of battle!" "What the soldier said about Elleone is bad, but you can't just go out there!"

Laguna, who wasn't really listening past the "you're the president" part, was looking in his pockets for ammo, and luckily enough found some. "Alright! Found it! Now if I could just remember where I put my trusty pal…"

"Laguna! Are you listening to a word I'm saying!?" Still being ignored, he turned to Ward. "Ward, your thoughts!?" But he only received a smile and a shrug, giving his okay to Laguna. Kiros gaped at Ward, stunned. "You, too!?"

"Relax, Kiros, it's not like I'm going to jump straight into the enemy's trap or anything. I just need to make sure Elle's alright and if not… Well, _then_ you have all reason to worry. Ah ha, here it is!" Laguna pulled out his machine gun from under his desk. "Huh, forgot I used it to straighten my wobbly desk!"

"…"

"…Wait a minute, no, I don't remember at all putting this there… Weird. Anyway, time to upload, save Elle, and the people of Esthar!" Laguna ran out his office door, too fired up to hear any complaints.

Kiros was left speechless at the desk. He leaned on Laguna's desk for support only for it to sway to his side with a thump, the "wobbly" side now bare. "We're doomed." And Ward couldn't help but silently agree after seeing the bad shape Laguna's gun was in.

"…"

"Well, we _are_ his friends and right-hands so I guess just like old times, we should help him out… Especially since he probably forgot where Elleone's room even is..." Both nodding, they ran out the office and after Laguna's loud tracks.

But Kiros could have sworn as he ran out that the soldier's motionless body changed somehow. Must have been his imagination.

* * *

Laguna ran first to the closest random room only encountering monsters that were strangely able to get in. But he didn't think too hard about it and ran down another hall. _Where was Elleone's room again?_ A Chimera jumped out of one of the rooms, blocking Laguna's path and swiping its tail at him. "Move it, would you!" Laguna shot at it, making it turn its appearance into that of a lizard-like form; it was throwing water about, trying to hit him. But as if he was going to get hit by water when he hadn't even stepped outside yet! The Chimera changed back to its lion form, becoming proficient in close combat and rammed Laguna to the ground, making him drop his gun. _My gun! _He reached out to get it, but the monster transformed back into a lizard and used its water abilities, submerging his weapon. "Hey! Knock that off, you, my gun's already old as it is!" He tried to run forward, but the creature lunged at him violently, making him move back.

"Ha, but joke's on you. Like a little water's going to stop me from getting my trusty comrade!"

The Chimera quickly changed into a lion again and blocked Laguna from his weapon. "Oh, so you wanna play like that, huh, well guess what? My gun's not the only weapon I have!" He reached into his other pocket, grabbing three small bombs. "There they are! Lucky I brought them along. Alright, let's get this show on the road!" The Chimera growled and lunged at him again. _Heh, he fell for it! _Laguna dodged the attack while throwing one of the mini grenades onto the Chimera's back. _Bingo!_

[3]

The Chimera looked confused for a second and tried to find the beeping noise.

[2]

Laguna placed his hands on his hips and waited. _Smart one, isn't he? He already caught on!_

[1]

_Oh, well!_

"_Kaboom!"_

He covered his ears and just as Laguna said it, an explosion surrounded the small area where the monster was standing; the Chimera was reduced to no more than black ash. "Fwoo! That was a close call! I really thought I was in trouble for a second there! Anyways… Ah! My gun!" Laguna dashed to his gun, still submerged in water and lifted it. "Well, I'm sure it's fine… I hope.

Taking care of the annoying monsters, Laguna's luck led him to find even more monsters every time he looked in a room. "Jeez, what's next? A huge Iron Giant in a one of these!?" 'And what's with my gun, it feels weird, and sounds… funny. _Maybe I should check to see if it's okay… Nah, it's been working fine.'_

He opened an empty room devoid of monsters… but still no Elleone. "I really wish my sense of direction was better…"

And just Laguna's luck, as he opened one of the guest rooms, a giant sword swung out at him barely giving him enough time to dodge to the side. "Wow, talk about jinxing myself! I hate these guys! And how did they even get in here!?" The Iron Giant's sword broke through the side of the wall with ease, concrete flew everywhere and the sheer sonic wave of its gigantic sword slamming the ground made Laguna's footing slip. "Oww... Hey! Stop breaking my place up! That's expensive stuff, you kno- Whoa!" The hole its sword made led outside and the windy rain and fog started to seep in. _Not good… _He was really not liking where this fight was going. And seeing as how experience had taught him, him and heights… just didn't get along. _Focus Laguna… now's not the time to wimp out!_

_Ha, ha... Oh boy..._

the iron giant seemed confused at the sudden fog engulfing the room, ts target to small to see.

"Laguna!" At the sound of his name, Laguna turned around to Ward and Kiros running up to him. "Need a hand?" Laughing guilty, Laguna sighed. "Man, and I said I wouldn't do anything dangerous…" Kiros waved it off and ran towards the Iron Giant, settling into his old fighting stance. He felt a little strange after so many years of relying on the soldiers to fight for them, but also a strange sense of nostalgia that was welcomed. "Nah, man, that's what makes it so interesting to be around you." Ward nodded and joined Kiros in the battle.

"Uh, thanks?" Laguna shrugged and ran to join his comrades.

"But you know the hole in the wall's not going to be cheap." Kiros grimaced at the damage done.

"I know, I know, I'll get a scolding later, but on the bright side, we can see him more than he can see us!" Laguna aimed his gun at the Iron Giant, ready to fire. "Alrigh- [click]… [click]… "Huh? H… Hey! What's with my gun, it's not working!?"

Kiros shrugged. "Maybe it's too old?" Laguna shook his gun until he remembered. _Oh man, it was that stupid Chimera thing! He submerged my gun in water so I couldn't use it! _"Crap, I'm not much help without a weapon…" _Well… I still have to look on the bright side!_

"Sooo… any of you guys still got that fighting spirit?" Laguna threw one of his bombs at the Iron Giant's hand, really hoping it would drop that over-exaggerated sword of his. _Where do those guys find those swords?_

"Who knows, but now seems like a good time to-" Kiros jumped forward just before the Iron Giant jumped down at him, slamming everything to the side. "-find out!" Landing, he slashed its knee, causing it to waver. "Ward, now!" And without further instruction, Ward threw his old harpoon at the Iron Giant's knee, really making it fall… towards Laguna. Kiros froze, registering in his head just where that hunk of metal was falling. "Laguna, watch out!"

"Huh, it's kinda hard to see in this fog. Oh shi-! Not good, not good! The Iron Giant fell in a big heap of broken floor and rubble, were Laguna had just been seconds ago. "A little warning would have been good, you know! Really, I could have been killed. There goes mister important president!" Ward sighed in relief while Kiros cringed at all the damage done. "Come on, Laguna, hurry up and finish it would you. This rain is really annoying."

Laguna huffed at his friend's unreactive attitudes. "Well, guess your right, can't leave Elle waiting forever. But still, a little warning would have been good! But not you, Ward, you're cool man." Laguna took out the last small bomb from his shirt pocket and threw it at the Iron Giant. [3] "I did warn you." Kiros walked out the door with Ward, Laguna following after. [2] "Yeah, sure, by the time I could have been a pancake!"

[1]…

Laguna threw his arm in the air. "Aaand, [BEEP!] Kaboom!" The room they just left exploded and the doors flew off their hinges, leaving one dead monster in its wake. "Man, I've missed that! Forgot how much adrenaline goes through you when you battle! Just like old times!"

Kiros sighed, he really needed to stop doing that. "Both Ward and I headed to Elleone's room earlier, but we didn't find anyone. Sorry, Laguna…"

Laguna suddenly felt the air get colder when Kiros spoke. He turned away from his group, looking out from the hole the Iron Giant had made. Though all he could see was endless fog, his hopes stayed high. "Well, I'm sure she's somewhere out there just waiting for me to get there." He turned back smiling proudly. "She's always been a good girl like that!"

Kiros shook his head at Laguna's easy-going attitude. "Heh, does nothing ever put you down?"

"Nope."

* * *

"Man it's a mess down here!" Laguna made it to the center of the bloodshed, shocked at just how much damage had been done. "I guess this was really serious…" Kiros walked past him, kneeling down to feel the empty pulse of a soldier. "Since when is fighting never serious… This man has a name; he's not just a nameless soldier." Kiros closed his eyes and stood. The rain fell endlessly, soaking them completely. Laguna looked down to one soldier, whose helmet had fallen off. A boy, probably no more than nineteen years old, almost the age of his own son… Laguna could have sworn the rain just felt heavier.

"… Yeah, I…I know…" Laguna surveyed the rest of the damage, dead bodies or what was left of some covered the floor. Red was all being washed away by the rain and the dense fog was vanishing.

"That's weird, the weather's suddenly changing." Kiros grimaced; now that the fog dispersed, he could see just how many lives were lost. "I suppose it's safe to say the cause of all this has left. You can't hear any gunfire anymore and no monsters are in sight." Just as he had said, there was an eerie silence in the air, nothing but the sound of rain hitting the floor could be heard.

"Yeah, actually, now that you mention it, I don't see any problems around anymore…" Laguna walked to the center of the street, looking around for a while when he stepped back suddenly, shocked. "H-hey this is creepy. All the bodies are in a perfect circle! Like they weren't even able to get near here! Which means..."

Kiros rolled his eyes, leave it to Laguna not to notice right away. "Yes, Laguna, we were aware of that. And by the way, chances are you're standing right where the intruder was standing." At that, Laguna jumped away from his spot. "Ah man, now _that_ is creepy." Ward sighed, walking over to Kiros to help lift a monster's dead body to the side. "Hey guys, is it smart to move these bodies and like, ruin the evidence?"

Kiros ignored Laguna and spotted soldiers running their way. "Sir! We have just confirmed that the mysterious intruder is gone!" Kiros nodded and turned to Laguna. "Please report to the _President _over there." "Sir!" The soldier saluted and focused on Laguna. "We failed in capturing the intruder, and many of our men fell. The enemy was... too strong, and used magic we've never seen before, sir!"

Laguna nodded, thinking over the events that had just happened. Unnatural weather, monsters suddenly appearing out of nowhere, a strange person using new magic, and… Elleone's disappearance. Snapping back to reality, Laguna grabbed the Esthar solider by the shoulder; it might have been a longshot, but he had to ask. "And Elleone? Did you happen to see Elleone anywhere?" The soldier nervously shook his head. "No, sir. I don't think anyone could have seen much in that fog."

Laguna slumped, feeling helpless all over again. Just where could Elleone have gone? "Damn. Not again… some Uncle I am…" Kiros and Ward stood back, thinking it better to say nothing. What could they say when they were just as confused as he was? Laguna, as if sensing the sad mood, shook his head of any bad thoughts and smiled. "Well, it's best not to jump to any conclusions… Elle's a smart girl, I'm sure we'll find a way to clear all this mess up." Coughing, he turned to the waiting soldiers. "Alright, men, I'm giving out a new order! I want the guys protecting the civilians to report over to their commander, ASAP!"

"Sir!"

"Team "still chasing the long gone intruder," go and make sure there are really no monsters around. I don't want any civilians getting hurt. Medic team, it's a given, but find anyone still alive and help them. As for the sniper team, you're on search duty, find Professor Odin for me, that old guy's probably hiding real well, so good luck to you guys. And last, but not least, I have to say… do your best!" Pumping his fist to the air, Laguna was tempted to do a speech, but something told him giving a speech in front of a bunch of dead people wasn't going to boost anyone's morale. "Move out!"

"Sir!" The soldier squads ran to their separate directions. Kiros and Ward had impressed looks on their faces, as if they had barley realized Laguna was an adult…

"You know, I'm not even going to comment on your guys' faces," Laguna said, dejected. Kiros and Ward gave apologetic shrugs. "Sorry, man."

Laguna sighed, looking up at the blackened sky, rain pouring down heavily around him. He wondered when these sorts of things would finally just end. _Just how many times do I have to go through these things….They say a parent's job is never done, but, sheesh… Rain, Squall, Elleone… someone's always missing…_

"Will it… ever stop?" Most would think he was talking about the rain, but his friends knew better. No reply came, just more rain falling, more casualties, and more grief. A brief, but strong storm was overhead.

* * *

Chapter 1: Complete!

Hope you liked it! I had to re-upload this chapter so many times, it's not even funny! one mistake to the next mistake! ToT But I hope I did good so far! 3

Ami-Dani~


	2. Gaining speed

I do not own Final Fantasy viii, Square Enix has full rights to the game.

I'm new to this whole uploading stories so I messed up on the scene breaks sorry! but, I did fix it! hope you like it~

Chapter 2: Gaining speed

* * *

"All right, I'm up!"

The sound of howling wind and gears moving filled the air, the pistons only adding to the heavy noise. A reckless and excited Zell stood on top of the speeding train. He closed the shutter leading to the roof of the train and ran down three compartments. And though he'd never admit it, jumping across to the next compartment was his least favorite part… But no way was that spilling! "Squall, I'm going in!" He looked down the side of the speeding train, feeling slightly sick. He leant down, looking for the hatch of the window. "Um… wasn't there supposed to be a hatch somewhere here?"

"Ooh, Zell! That's the wrong window! Three more down!" Zell cringed when Selphie's overly high-pitched voice yelled through the intercom headset he had strapped on. "Jeez, alright, alright, but hey, I thought Squall was the one I was talking to?" he stood back up looking to his next destination. He patted away dirt from his pants, ready to go.

"Nope, Squall had to jump to the next train's cargo room. Poor guy; he was pretty annoyed about it." Zell laughed, running down the train to reach the right window. "Man, that sucks."

"Yeah, those guys who hired us are goanna get it good!" Selphie shouted, moving to the next corridor of the train, humming slightly to herself, waiting for the code to the door to be accepted. "Since the storage room you entered was a fake, Squall figured the train next to us was the right one, so we were just lucky both our trains had an opening to get close enough to jump it! Heh heh... But… how he's coming back through is gonna be the tough part…"

"You sure seem worried," Zell commented, as he finally made it to the right window. He opened the hatch, making the window swing open with a shudder. "Alright! I'm coming in." Zell climbed down, only grabbing on to the rim of the train. The trains moving making it difficult to get a good grip. He cringed and tightened his hands when the train bellowed loudly and shook from the pickup of speed it was gaining. "This is really not worth the pay we're getting for this mission." Zell moved his leg, trying to find the window sill, but only met air. "Hey, I can't feel the window, what gives!?" Zell was distracted by the sound of laughing below.

Selphie snickered, trying to hide it, but obviously failing. "You're too short! You don't reach the window sill!" And that was it, Selphie broke out in a fit of laughter.

"Wah!? S…Shut it! Don't make fun of people's heights! Ugh… Dammit!" But Zell's embarrassed yells fell on deaf ears.

Selphie wiped away a tear from her fit. Quieting down she walked to the window. "Alright, alright, here, just fall and I'll catch you. Promise!"

'Bullshit! Are you crazy!? Like that's even humanly possible for you!" Zell shouted, trying to still find someplace to stand.

Selphie snickered again. "Don't worry, I'm strong enough to at least carry you… not like your feet will skid on the ground." Selphie laughed at Zell's shouts and curses. "Ahh man, I can't wait to tell Squall all about this." Zell's legs suddenly froze. "Don't even think about it, Selphie!" But only more laughing ensued.

"What's going on in here?" A gruff voice sounded through Selphie's laughing and so she turned to the door, hearing the guard punch in the code to open the door. "Uh-oh, bad guy, twelve o'clock! Zell, get in here!"

"You think I _want_ to just dangle off a train!? I'm a bit stuck!"

[beep]

"Then climb back up!"

[beep]

"It's too late for that, my grip's bad!"

[beep]

"Then just hide your legs!" And with that Selphie ran to the next corridor.

"H-Hey! Wait- Selphie!"

[BEEP! Access granted.]

"Damn!" Zell raised his legs as best he could above the window. _This wouldn't have happened if Squall was here! _But did he really want Squall to see how short he was? The last thing he needed was for the guy to think he was even more uncool than he already thought! He stayed as still as possible, hoping the guard passed him by.

"Huh, that's weird, could have sworn I heard some laughing in here…" Zell couldn't see from where he was, but the guard sounded fooled, so that was good. And just when Zell was going to relax, he heard the guard walking too close for comfort. D- _Damn… not good! _Zell clenched his fists tighter on the rim of the train, his heartbeat was the only thing he could really hear other than the loud noise of the train.

"What the-? Now why's the window open? Better close it or boss is gonna get mad." Zell then felt his heart sink when he heard the window snap shut. _Selphie, you better get back in here!_

Zell waited for a while, his hands were going numb from hanging so long, mixed in with the wind howling past him. _Had to be cold today, didn't it…?_ Zell's attention snapped back when he heard the window open again. Thankfully, Selphie, was there instead of a guard, but it wasn't that much better, either.

"Alright, Zell we've got to get a move on! We're running out of time here!" Zell rolled his eyes at that. "So here's what we're goanna do-"

"Forget that, just move outta the way!" Zell heard Selphie step away from the window. He lifted his legs and kicked into the window while letting go of the train's rim. He slid inside, doing what he would only call a "cool" pose on the ground. "Aww, yeah baby, I'm finally on ground!"

"Sheesh, took you long enough! Why didn't you do that from the beginning?" Selphie huffed and walked over to the door opposite the one the guard had walked in from. "Alright, never mind, we need to get a move on or Squall and Quistis are gonna chew us out!" She began to enter the door's code, uncaring of Zell's still "cool" pose.

"Yeah, guess you're right." Leave it to Selphie to not notice his great skills… Zell sighed and leaned on the wall, waiting for the door to open when his intercom started crackling. "Oww, what is that!?" He pulled the intercom off his ear, holding it a good distance from himself.

[C-cr-crack…]

[Tw…nnnee..cck..]

"This thing's broken or something." Zell shook the earpiece, still only getting static. Selphie tilted her head to the side in confusion. "But, Zell, mine's still working just fine." Zell shrugged. "Maybe a glitch?" both were staring at the intercom when it suddenly became silent. "Great, now it's busted." He raised his hand, preparing to slam the thing.

"Wait, Zell, hear it!"

"Huh?"

[Bzzz..."Hey..." Bzzz "-nyone…" Zzz]

Zell blinked, bringing his hand down he looked over at Selphie. "Who do you think it is?" Selphie looked around for a second, thinking. "Hm, well, it's not Quistis. She's in the front driving the train." Zell gaped. He knew Quistis was in charge of the speed of the train, but he'd just thought she was going to threaten the driver or something. "She is!?" Selphie nodded. "Yep. She had a bit of training with Nida and the rest of the mechanics in Garden on how to use all sorts of machines."

"Wow..." Zell blinked down at the intercom when a thought came up. "And why wouldn't it be Quistis?"

"Because, she can contact all of us, so she would obviously contact me first. The only one that can't contact the rest of us is Irvine. You're in charge of that."

"…"

"…"

"So it's… Irvine…" Zell paled. Shit, he was supposed to be in the engine room! _How in the hell could I forget!?_

Selphie snatched Zell's intercom from him. "Irvine, are you there!?"

[Bzzzer… Click! "Come on, answer would you!?"]

"Irvine!" Selphie yelled straight into the intercom, making Zell shudder. _Poor Irvine; make the guy go deaf, why don't you….?_

["Selphie, babe! Glad to hear your voice, but, why do you have Zell's intercom?"]

"Long story, but Zell's here. What did you need to say?" Zell fidgeted, he needed to get to the engine room. And fast.

[Well, judging by the fact you're there, Selphie, I'm guessing you guys are _not_ in the engine room."] When Selphie affirmed his suspicions Irvine sighed. ["Well, turns out you all have less time than we thought. Ya see, I'm like, in charge of where all the trains meet and go and stuff, so no one supposed to come to a collision, but… erm... I may have messed up just a bit…"]

Selphie was practically crushing the intercom. "What? Irvine!"

["Calm down, calm down! I already fixed it. I mean, come on, cut me some slack. These things are confusing! Two-way roads aren't so easy to maneuver, and don't even mention all the safety measures there are!"]

Zell grabbed the intercom from Selphie. "Alright, so what's the problem, then?" Selphie huffed when the earpiece was taken away.

["Well, when I moved one train, it totally messed the whole thing up. Train A, which is you guys, is going to take the same route, just as planned, but Train B… ah, well, it's going to get a bit bumpy. So I'm gonna have to move you guys faster then I thought, _away_ from Train B… Since well… it's kinda… carrying a boat load of dynamite in its storage room…"]

"What!?" Selphie looked out the window, now seeing the side of Train B. It was going at their same speed…

[Yeah, funny, huh? It turns out that train doesn't even have anyone on board, it has an automatic destination built in. Turns out whoever sent it was sending it straight for Delling City. So I, of course, set its course to where no harm could come out of it. Cool, huh?"]

Zell and Selphie were speechless, until Zell put two and two together. "Wait a minute! Squall's on that train!" Selphie ran to the window to see the train next to them, the one Squall was on wasn't getting any closer. "Ooh, no way! I'll contact Squall!"

"Shit!" Zell swore under his breath, thinking of any solutions, but dammit he wasn't much of a thinker to begin with! [Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you guys mean Squall, as in our _leader, _is on Train B!? How the hell he'd get in there!?"]

"The storage room on this train was a fake, so Squall thought our employers got the trains confused."

["What, why? It says so here you guys are on the right train!]

"Yeah, well, Squa- hey!" Selphie snatched Zell's intercom and handed him hers. "Squall's not answering; neither is Quistis. So you wait here for any signs from Squall. I'll go see Quistis and explain the rest to Irvine on the way there; we have to move!"

"But I need to get to the engine room!" Selphie blinked and nodded. "Alright, then get to the engine room!" And with that, Selphie ran out the door.

Zell was left dumbfounded, looking down at Selphie's intercom. _What if "I" need help? _Zell sighed and looked in his pocket, he had some codes to doors, but not all of them… "Hello train roof again…" Zell groaned in frustration then looked around, hoping no guards were coming his way.

He paused for a short time as it donned on him. "Wait… did Selphie just give me an order? Ugh. Damn it, whatever!" And with that he readied himself for the freezing winds again.

* * *

Irvine typed quickly, or as quickly as he could, on the computer in front of him. "That should do it… I think." He looked around the room, four large computers on the sides of the walls, the largest screen in the middle showing all trains and rail paths that were available. The one to the right held the safety options, and the one to the left held all the train schedules and times. "Well, this is easy… Like, what was Squall thinking, leaving me to do a dangerous job like this? You need more than one guy to operate this stuff! Not to mention, know-how about this sort of thing!"

["Irvine, you there? Over.]

"Yeah, Selphie, for you, I'd be anywhere~" Irvine leaned on a computer chair, even though Selphie couldn't see him. _I'm sure the tone of my voice will reach her~ _Irvine sat down on the chair facing the middle screen.

['Umm… right, but you said you wanted to know what's been going on over here, right?"]

_Man, her voice is nice…. My charm must have worked~_

["Irvine? Hellloo!"]

"Hm? Oh, yeah, sure, why not? Er, I mean, go right ahead, Selphie."

["Alright, so I was first with Squall while Zell went to the storage room. But you'll never believe it! It was a trick all along! Zell got locked in while inside! So, then Zell informed us that the room didn't have what we were looking for, so that's when we were like: "Oh, no. What do we do now!?" Then Squall looked out the window and saw something on the other train and he said something like, "That has to be it." And then gave me the intercom telling me to guide Zell back. Then Squall did something crazy! He said he would be back and opened the window telling Quistis to match the speed of the train beside us! Nuts, I know! It was hard, but she did it! So, then an amazing opening happened and both trains got just close enough. Squall shot through the other window with his gunblade, which I thought was really un-stealthy of him, but yeah, whatever, he climbed right into the other train! And I was, of course, shocked! I said: "But, Squall, how do you plan on getting back!?" And what if the guards attack him when he can't use his summons, you know, with the stupid Anti-GF barrier!? Then he told me that he would deal with that when it came to it, and then left! I went to help Zell, and that's when you called."]

Irvine was silent for a while, leave it to Selphie to say it all in one breath… but, jeez, hard to digest it all in one go. "Okay, Selphie, I think I get most of it, but what did Squall see that made him jump on the other train?"

["Umm… that, I don't know."]

[FWeeeRee]

Irvine blinked at his intercom. "Again with this? Hey, Selphie? Selphie?" This thing was bugged or something. "Well, I'm sure she's okay."

[Screech "-not good!" vrrrreEEnn]

"Selphie!?" Irvine tried to hear past the static noise, but her voice faded to the back and he was unable to make out anything but… the sound of gunfire.

"Sephie!" No response came, only static. "Shit!" The sound of the door creaking open and heavy footsteps echoed across the room. Irvine turned quickly to find Galbadian soldiers at his back. _Huh, no, their uniforms are different from Galba- damn… there's too many of them, thirty, maybe forty…_

"We knew you'd be here, SeeD scum. Nothing personal, but we just have to wipe you out." The soldier held up his weapon, readying himself to aim as the other soldiers followed suit. These guys defiantly knew about their job… But how?

_No use thinking about that now._

"Tch, you do know who you're talking to right?" Irvine pulled his shot gun out and aimed at the soldiers. "Sorry to say, but me and my friends, we don't go down very easily, no matter the numbers. I was kinda hoping people knew better." Tipping his hat down, Irvine smiled, readying himself for one long fight. Some soldiers tensed, but others took confidence in their numbers. "Guess not."

* * *

Chapter 2: Complete!


End file.
